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Grit the Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Lee Duckworth

1. The Origin of the Idea: A Teacher's Insight​

Duckworth began her career teaching seventh-grade math in New York City public schools after working in management consulting.

  • Observation: She noticed that her best students were not necessarily those with the highest IQ scores. Conversely, some of her smartest kids were not performing well.
  • Conviction: She became convinced that the challenging math concepts were not impossible and that every student could learn the material "if they worked hard and long enough".
  • The Question: This led her to pursue psychology, seeking a better understanding of student learning from a motivational and psychological perspective, asking: What if doing well in school and in life depends on more than the ability to learn quickly and easily?

2. Research on Success and Grit​

Duckworth conducted research in various demanding environments to predict success:

  • West Point Military Academy: Predicting which cadets would stay in training and which would drop out.
  • National Spelling Bee: Predicting which children would advance furthest in the competition.
  • Rookie Teachers: Determining which teachers in tough neighbourhoods would stay in the profession and be most effective at improving student outcomes.
  • Private Companies: Identifying which salespeople would keep their jobs and earn the most money.

3. The Definition of Grit​

In all these varied contexts, one characteristic emerged as the most significant predictor of success, surpassing social intelligence, good looks, physical health, and IQ: Grit.

Grit is defined as:

  • Passion and perseverance for very long-term goals.
  • Having stamina and sticking with your future "day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years"
  • Living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint.

4. Grit in Education​

Duckworth's study in the Chicago Public Schools involved high school juniors taking grit questionnaires.

  • Finding: Grittier kids were significantly more likely to graduate, even after controlling for factors like family income, standardised achievement test scores, and safety perception at school.
  • Conclusion: Grit matters not just in elite settings like West Point, but "especially for kids at risk for dropping out".

5. Talent vs. Grit​

Duckworth emphasises that talent is separate from grit:

  • Talent is not grit: Her data clearly shows that many talented individuals "simply do not follow through on their commitments".
  • Unrelated or Inverse Relation: Grit is typically unrelated or even inversely related to measures of talent.

6. Building Grit: The Growth Mindset​

While science still has much to learn about building grit, the best current idea is the growth mindset.

  • Growth Mindset: An idea developed by Carol Dweck at Stanford University, it is the belief that the ability to learn is not fixed and can change with effort.
  • Impact: When children learn that their brain changes and grows in response to challenge, they are more likely to persevere when they fail, because they don't believe failure is a permanent condition.

Duckworth concludes by stating that the work ahead is to rigorously test and measure new ideas for building grit in children, requiring researchers to be "gritty about getting our kids grittier".